Computer Hacking - too fast !?

[Amidar]

Hi there,

I'm playing for the fist time on hard and I don't understand how come the computer hacking is practically impossible at times..

It started off being ridiculously fast and I had to spot the numbers right away and move the numbers to where they should be as fast as I could but now as the game progresses I can no longer do it.. even if I do spot the numbers right away I just can't click fast enough on the keyboard and move the mouse fast enough to reach the locations on time !?

And hacking a computer is practically impossible while hacking alarms or cracking locks is really easy, what am I missing?

 

Thank you.

[C2B]

Hi there,

I'm playing for the fist time on hard and I don't understand how come the computer hacking is practically impossible at times..

It started off being ridiculously fast and I had to spot the numbers right away and move the numbers to where they should be as fast as I could but now as the game progresses I can no longer do it.. even if I do spot the numbers right away I just can't click fast enough on the keyboard and move the mouse fast enough to reach the locations on time !?

And hacking a computer is practically impossible while hacking alarms or cracking locks is really easy, what am I missing?

 

Thank you.

 

Try to get 1 number per Sequence and then get the other in the next or use EMP's.

 

Also, Alpha Protocol is skill based in the minigames. The later ones are very hard if you didn't spend much points. It's the equivlant of other rpgs saying "Your skill is too low" Just in Alpha Protocol you can still try.

[Enoch]

The keyboard and mouse controls for it are poorly implemented-- just moving the cursor around can take up a lot of the alloted time, even after you've spotted the correct sequence.

 

The second rank in the Sabotage skill gets you more time to complete your hack. Even with the lousy controls, once I got the hang of it, I was able to hack with pretty good consistency at that skill level.

Edited June 9, 2010 by Enoch

[dan107]

Hi there,

I'm playing for the fist time on hard and I don't understand how come the computer hacking is practically impossible at times..

It started off being ridiculously fast and I had to spot the numbers right away and move the numbers to where they should be as fast as I could but now as the game progresses I can no longer do it.. even if I do spot the numbers right away I just can't click fast enough on the keyboard and move the mouse fast enough to reach the locations on time !?

And hacking a computer is practically impossible while hacking alarms or cracking locks is really easy, what am I missing?

 

Thank you.

 

Yeah, it's tough, especially until you max the hacking skill. One little "trick" that I used is with the most difficult ones just scan the upper left hand corner thoroughly hoping that the sequence is there. If it's not, you won't have time to move the left numbers anywhere else before they reset anyway, so all you can hope for is that it will be in the upper left corner and make sure that you don't miss it. Then hope that you can spot the other one quickly enough, since the mouse moves faster than the keyboard. So essentially you have a 1/4 chance or so of hacking the toughest computers. Spy's luck doubles it, and once you max the hacking skill you get more time. So make sure you keep the skill maxed all the time if you intend to do a lot of hacking. Some alarms will get really tough later on also.

 

Or, like the other guy said, you can just use EMPs (you can put them in more than 1 slot so you can carry more than 2) but to me that always felt kind of cheap.

[Volourn]

"Also, Alpha Protocol is skill based in the minigames."

 

Not completely true. It's both character skill and player skilled based.

[Tigranes]

Volourn is pointless as usual. *hug*

 

It is pretty damn hard on Hard, invest points into sabotage as you see fit - Spy's Luck, EMPs and decreased difficulty help.

[Amidar]

Thanks for the replies,

how come it is so unbalanced when I can easily do the other minigames, this computer hacking minigame is extremely difficult?

[Spydude]

At minimum on hard I would get 2 levels of Sabotage and the printed circuitry. Upgrade the gloves to the moderate bonus ones when they are available. I was able to get through the game with this. I used EMP 2-3 times all game.

[Orchomene]

I mostly only use EMP, now. At the end of the game, I find that all the mini games become tough if you didn't specialize in sabotage. This is more costly (1000 $) but it avoids the trigger of an alarm which is a pain when going stealthy.

[Tigranes]

how come it is so unbalanced when I can easily do the other minigames, this computer hacking minigame is extremely difficult?

 

Two things - firstly, the controls are clunky, which adds to the difficulty. This is a flaw. Secondly, each minigame requires different kinds of mental skills on the part of the player - although it seems like everyone is complaining about hacking, there are also a lot of people who find it easy. I actually think higher difficulty lockpicking (10 seconds, 5 pins) is harder than higher difficulty hacking, because of the way the pins move.

[Hassat Hunter]

While I find the pins easiest (although sometimes the "actual line is below the visual line" gets me), wires second (although 11 in a short time is too much) and yeah, hacking is the hardest. The worst are those in Rome, but I get the impression in the end there all minigames are at their thoughest in the last 3 missions). The one at the (spoiler alert for Rome!)

the top level CIA outpost, near the silencer MK3)

refreshes each 3 seconds or so, even on Normal? That's just way too fast..

[Tigranes]

That mission, if I remember right, has a dossier that reduces infiltration difficulty. You seem to get that for most of the missions with difficult minigames.

[Darkeus]

Nver found hacking to be very hard at all. That is just me though. In fact, I don't find any of the hacking mini-games hard.

[Hassat Hunter]

That mission, if I remember right, has a dossier that reduces infiltration difficulty. You seem to get that for most of the missions with difficult minigames.

Yes, it does. I bought it both times. Doesn't prevent that PC from being the hardest hacking miningame in the entire game.

I dread to think how it is without that intel (although I am more inclined to think it's just broken and the same speed).

[Thorton_AP]

This is in large part due to the difficulty being set to hard as well. It might be exceptionally unforgiving, but once you get "good" at the hacking minigame, it's probably a lot easier.

 

I don't think as much work was done into balancing the game at the harder difficulty level (which I think is par for the course for most devs).

 

The game is intended to be played at normal IMO. Good luck with hard. It's going to be hard

[Amidar]

Thanks for the replies guys..

[MarteenDee]

how come it is so unbalanced when I can easily do the other minigames, this computer hacking minigame is extremely difficult?

 

Two things - firstly, the controls are clunky, which adds to the difficulty. This is a flaw. Secondly, each minigame requires different kinds of mental skills on the part of the player - although it seems like everyone is complaining about hacking, there are also a lot of people who find it easy. I actually think higher difficulty lockpicking (10 seconds, 5 pins) is harder than higher difficulty hacking, because of the way the pins move.

 

Controls aren't clunky. The only problem is that cursor arrow don't disappear when entering any of the minigames - and it seems that some people got really confused by that (I don't know how it is with the controler, though).

Firstly I was also a bit confused, because of the arrow and password box floating at the same time. If you focus on the box though, and forget about the arrow - it's easier than you think. Mouse reacts normally. It's only that you're not used to move "cursor" straight only in lines and rows. Same with keyboard - press button once and it moves one space vertically or horizontally.

 

There's a little trick with the keyboard but I'll leave that for the end (as it's kind of "cheat" or "fix").

 

Anyway - what I'm doing to hack quickly is (besides of buying skills and uniform gadgets for hacking):

1. Forget about cursor arrow.

2. Close your eyes slightly to have everything blurred. When you do that - animated grid squares became darker and still stripes with passwords seems brighter. Keep your eyes far enough from the screen to see the whole field.

3. Move both your mouse and press keyboard buttons simultaneously - in the meantime confirm if they match and which goes where. Remember that it's easier to match right key as it moves faster. Then you have to track only one password after security update.

4. Done (my hacking record is not more than 3sec on hard).

 

Now - promised "cheat"/"fix".

In Unreal Tournament you could dodge (roll) left or right by quickly double pressing WSAD keys. To prevent from frustrating and incidental rolls there was introduced key delay setting in ini files - double tap was registered only when you could click movement key not faster than every 0.25 sec and not slower than 0.5sec. As a legacy we have those entries left and active in Alpha Protocol config files. That's why you think that keyboard is clunky and isn't registering your furious attempts to move left password to its position. Here's what you have to do:

 

Go to ...MyDocuments/Alpha Protocol/APGame/Config directory, open in notepad, and alter these values (even to 0.0):

 

APGame.ini

 

InputHeldThreshold=0.5f <---------- 0.5f = 0.5 sec for the game to register double-click

InputPressedThreshold=0.25f <---------- 0.25f = 0.25 sec of delay between two clicks - that's why you think that keyboard

isn't responsive enough.

 

You might also for some reason open APInput.ini and alter

 

DoubleClickTime=0.250000 <---------same but delay for the mouse. Higher the value - more time to register double-click.

 

Save your changes and enjoy grief-free hacking...

[player1]

While I find the pins easiest (although sometimes the "actual line is below the visual line" gets me), wires second (although 11 in a short time is too much) and yeah, hacking is the hardest. The worst are those in Rome, but I get the impression in the end there all minigames are at their thoughest in the last 3 missions). The one at the (spoiler alert for Rome!)

the top level CIA outpost, near the silencer MK3)

refreshes each 3 seconds or so, even on Normal? That's just way too fast..

 

In my first playthrough I got to Rome first, and mini-games were very easy. In next playthrough I hot to Rome last and mini-games where very difficult.

 

As far as I can see, game uses "difficulty scaling" for all mini-games. Higher the level of player, harder the games.

 

Still, it's pity that there are no many skills that help in hacking. One at 2nd level of Sabotage, and one near the end of Sabotage line are only skills helping in decreasing their difficulty. And there is spy luck, which just gives second chance.

 

.

 

As for hacking, while I'm still looking for patters, I usually try to move both markers to the center of the screen. That way, no position is too far away when I find proper pattern.

Edited June 11, 2010 by player1

[Hassat Hunter]

Second game I did Rome first, and still, the mini-games there were harder than most that followed in TaiPai and Rome (even without increased equipment/skill to counter).

 

I thought it was level too, but it may not be after all (?).

[player1]

Heh... when I did Tapei last, there where things like 11 stat alarms and doors, making some missions reeeally difficult. In different playthrough, with Tapei first, it was peace of cake.

[Oner]

According to a post somewhere else, difficulty is based on spent AP

...which I find hard to accept, Taipei as a 2nd hub was a lot harder than Moscow as a second hub, mini-game wise.

[Supreme Shogun]

Sometimes blind or dumb luck helps. Once in a while the second code will be above or below the first. I also find it easier to spot codes near the corners than I do in the middle. I've also found it easier to hack on PC version looking at my monitor than it is even on bigscreen hdtv for the 360 version. That may just be me. I'm no great hacker but I have gotten better at. Like most minigames I do fail them occaisonally.

[junior]

According to a post somewhere else, difficulty is based on spent AP

...which I find hard to accept, Taipei as a 2nd hub was a lot harder than Moscow as a second hub, mini-game wise.

 

It's actually "earned" AP that's taken into account and not "spent" AP. It's just that usually people spend every AP that they earn, so it's difficult to tell the difference. But if you hack the ini file to give yourself 10,000 AP when you level up (which is more than you can ever use - the most you can ever spend is a little under 500), then you'll instantly fail any hack job that you attempt.

 

Controls aren't clunky. The only problem is that cursor arrow don't disappear when entering any of the minigames - and it seems that some people got really confused by that (I don't know how it is with the controler, though).

Firstly I was also a bit confused, because of the arrow and password box floating at the same time. If you focus on the box though, and forget about the arrow - it's easier than you think. Mouse reacts normally. It's only that you're not used to move "cursor" straight only in lines and rows. Same with keyboard - press button once and it moves one space vertically or horizontally

 

Unfortunately, you do need to keep track of the general position of the cursor. There's been more than one hack job that I've accidentally aborted out of because I didn't notice where my mouse cursor was hovering at the time...

 

And while by and large I agree that the problem with the clumsy hacking interface is due to inexperience in using a mouse that way, I did have one incident that made me doubt wonder if I wasn't mistaken. Specifically, twice during the same hack job I moved my mouse down only to see the alpha-numeric string that I was positioning move up instead. And it wasn't just a twitch up - it actually jumped up a couple of rows on the display both times. But I haven't noticed that since, so I'm not sure if it was just a fluke or not.

[Ginx]

As the guy above said, on Hard and with a hacked amount of AP you'll instantly fail any hack job. You barely even get to see the screen with the codes before you get a failure message. It is thoroughly annoying, and as far as I can tell it is the result of silly coding - there simply isn't a limit to how much the hack timer can be influenced by AP. This is silly because such a limit seems to exist for both of the other two minigames - lockpick and bypass still have non-impossible timers (difficult, but still not impossible). And I still can't find any reference to the timers in the config files, no way to change them or set how much they are influenced by AP...

[player1]

You know what's funny. Everybody complains about mouse control, but in cases of very fast times, near end of the game, it's usually keyboard marker that is too slow, not the mouse controlled one. If you don't move immediately keyboard marker to the center of the screen, there is no chance to get to the location, if it is in lower right area.